28.09.11
NHS should be able to take direct control of FTs – Nicholson
NHS chief executive David Nicholson has publicly challenged a key proposal in the Health & Social Care Bill, stating that the Government is wrong to block failing foundation trusts from returning to direct NHS control.
The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is promoting the change, asserting that it will strengthen Foundation Trusts and help decentralise power within the NHS. Lansley wants to repeal a provision in the 2006 National Health Service Act which allows for the ‘de-authorisation’ of failing FTs, triggering their return to NHS control.
At the public inquiry into failings at Mid-Staffordshire NHS trust, Nicholson said: “I do think that the opportunity in a sense to renationalise a foundation trust should be part of the armoury of any government in these circumstances.
“It's not one shared, I have to say, by the government. But it's something that I believe to be the case. They want all organisations to be foundation trusts, but I believe that from time to time it may be necessary for the state to take the direct management of an organisation.”
The Bill will be debated in the House of Lords on October 11, and further criticism may come from a group of rebel peers, led by Lady Williams, who are determined to challenge the Government.
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